Figure 1 (below) shows the Word document window — or "workplace". The large empty area in the middle is where you will enter the text of your document. Around this area are various bars, which provide information (such as what font is being used), initiate a function (such as printing), or help you move through a document (scroll bars). A brief description of each follows Figure 1. 

In addition to the items depicted and described below, you may also see the "Office Assistant" and a Language bar on the screen.

The Office Assistant is displayed as an animated paper clip. Click the image to display a dialog bubble. Follow the instructions in the dialog bubble to get answers to questions about Word. To close the feature, position the mouse pointer on the "Office Assistant", click the secondary mouse button ("right-click"), and choose Hide from the popup menu that appears.  See "How to Learn More" for additional information about the "Office Assistant".

If the Language bar is present, it appears in the upper right corner of the screen and provides access to speech recognition, handwriting recognition, and Input Method Editors (IME).

FIGURE 1. Components of the Word 2002 "Workplace"

TITLE BAR. The horizontal bar at the very top of the window displays the names of the application (Microsoft Word) and file currently open. If you haven't yet begun to type your document, the file designation is simply "Document1" (or “Document2”, etc.). If you open a previously created document, you'll see the name of that document displayed.

MENU BAR. Immediately below the Title Bar are the headings for features menus. When you click once on one of these headings a partial list of available options will "drop down". To see more selections, click the double arrows at bottom of the menu. 

Menu Notes

• Three dots following a menu option (as in Print... on the File menu) indicate that choosing that item will display a dialog box.
• If you click on a menu item for which an "arrow" is displayed to the far right, a second, cascading menu will appear to the right of the initial menu.
• If there is a keyboard shortcut for a menu item, it is displayed to the right of the item. For example, on the File menu, the Ctrl+P notation to the right of the Print option means that, in lieu of using the mouse to initiate printing, you can hold down the CTRL key and tap the P key to display the Print dialog box.
• Word 2002 provides personalized menus. This means that the menu items displayed will change to reflect the options you use most. If you would prefer to see all menu selections available, you can disable personalized menus as follows.
  1. On the Menu Bar click Tools.
  2. Choose (click) Customize from the drop-down menu.
  3. Click the Options tab to bring it to the front.
  4. Remove (click) the X next to "Menus use recently used commands first".
  5. Click the Close button to return to your document window.

ASK A QUESTION BOX. New in Word 2002 is this shortcut to Word's Help system. Type a word, phrase, or question and tap the ENTER key to see — and select from — a list of topics. (See "How to Learn More" for more information about this and other Help features.)

CONTROL BUTTONS. At the right end of the Title Bar and Menu Bar are buttons that can be used to close, minimize, or change the size of the program window or current document window.

• To close Word (and any open documents) click the upper of the two X buttons. To close the currently visible document only, click the lower (and smaller) X button.
• The button showing a single screen or double, overlapping screens is a window-sizing button. Clicking the button showing a single screen will maximize the window (to fill the available area). Clicking the button showing double, overlapping screens will "restore" the window, normally to a size that does not fill the available area.
• To minimize (but not close) a document, click the button displaying a minus sign. The document will become a button on the Windows taskbar. When you're ready to continue working on the document, simply click that button to restore the window to the screen.

TOOLBARS. Immediately below the Menu Bar are two side-by-side toolbars containing several "buttons" that represent commonly-used Word features and provide quick access to them. On the left is the Standard Toolbar; on the right is the Formatting Toolbar. Each toolbar contains some of the buttons available. To see more buttons, click the double arrows at the right end of the toolbar.

To initiate a feature, click the appropriate button. If you aren't sure what feature a particular icon represents, move the mouse pointer to that icon and read the boxed identification that appears.

Each of the features available from a toolbar can also be initiated from one of the pull-down menus. For example, the Print feature can be initiated from the File menu.

Toolbar Note: Word 2002 provides personalized toolbars. This means that the buttons displayed will change to reflect the features you use most. If you would prefer to see all buttons available, you can disable personalized toolbars as follows.

1. On the Menu Bar click Tools.
2. Choose (click) Customize from the drop-down menu.
3. Click the Options tab to bring it to the front.
4. Remove (click) the X next to "Standard and Formatting Toolbar share one row".
5. Click the Close button to return to your document window.

RULER BAR. Below the toolbars is a ruler from which you can easily adjust set tab stops (see "Setting Tab Stops" in Part 3: Formatting Features).

TASK PANE. There are a number of task panes available in Word 2002. Each displays at the right side of the Word window and provides quick access to actions or tasks specific to the work you're doing. When you start Word the New Document task pane may be displayed (as shown in Figure 1, above). To close a task pane, click the Close [X] button at the top of the pane.

STATUS BAR. At the very bottom of the document window is a bar that provides information about the document displayed, such as insertion point location in the document (page number) and on the page (line and column).

VIEW BUTTONS. These buttons, located to the left of the horizontal scroll bar, provide quick access to different ways to view your document. From left to right, they are:

• Normal View — A quick-entry view where text and other page elements are shown in one long, continuous column that flows from page to page.
• Web Layout View — A view for use with online documents.
• Print Layout View — The standard working view, showing how your document will look when it is printed.
• Outline View — Displays your document as an outline.

SCROLL BARS. The bars to the right and bottom of the screen that have arrow buttons at either end and a "sliding" button in the middle are used to move vertically and horizontally through a document.

• If you click on one of the arrows you will move one line at a time in the direction chosen.
• If you click and drag the "sliding" button (i.e., hold down the primary mouse button while moving the mouse in the desired direction) you can move longer distances. When scrolling vertically, a small box will be displayed to the left of the vertical scroll bar, giving you information about the move (such as page number).
• In addition, you can move one screen at a time by clicking in the gray area either above (to move up) or below (to move down) the “sliding” button. Moving one screen at a time can be useful when you are proofreading a document. 

  Note: When you move through a document using the vertical scroll bar, you do not change the location of the insertion point. You must click the I-Beam pointer somewhere on the current screen in order to change the position of the insertion point.

BROWSE BUTTONS. Clicking the appropriate button just below the vertical scroll bar allows you to move to the previous or nex page of a document, or to select (and the search for) a browse object.

INSERTION POINT. The short (blinking) vertical line on the screen marks where you are working in the document.

END OF DOCUMENT MARKER. When your document is displayed in Normal View, a horizontal line marks the end of the document.